Sands China Ltd. hosted the MICE & Luxury Forum on June 8 as part of The Macao Showcase’, a three-day event aimed at bringing the best of Macao to Singapore. The forum took place in-person at the main venue in the Sands Expo & Convention Centre of Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, while a hybrid format took place within a sub-venue at The Londoner Macao.

The MICE & Luxury Forum featured an impressive lineup of international thought leaders and MICE specialists discussing the latest trends and key issues in the industries across five sessions including, ‘Luxury Hospitality: The New Playbook for Building Guest Experiences’, ‘Technology in Events: How to Navigate the Journey Ahead?’, ‘Meetings & Events in a Post Pandemic World: Status Quo or A New Game?’, ‘Marketing a Destination: What Makes a World Class Meetings & Events Locale?’, and ‘Luxury Retail: Setting a New Pace’. 

At the hybrid event, students from the University of Macau, Macao Polytechnic University, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao Institute for Tourism Studies and City University of Macau, as well as MICE association members, attended the forum virtually via Smart Stage, Macao’s first hybrid meetings space and sophisticated ‘Extended Reality’ (XR) studio. Utilising cutting-edge technology, including professional broadcast quality live-streaming capability and hologram functionality, the Macao audience was able to interact in real-time with panellists and attendees in Singapore. This immersive experience provided them with an excellent platform to learn from the industry’s brightest minds and keep abreast of the latest trends.

The hybrid MICE & Luxury Forum is Sands China’s latest initiative to further its cooperation with tertiary institutions and industry associations to help nurture the growth of local youth, incubate much-needed talent for large-scale meetings and conferences to be hosted in Macao, and add to Macao’s pool of human resources. It is also a project of the Sands MICE Academy, a new sub-academy of the Sands China Academy established in March 2023. Supporting the Macao Government Tourism Office’s ‘tourism + MICE’ initiative, Sands MICE Academy aims to enhance the overall competitiveness of the Greater Bay Area as a preferred international MICE destination by utilising the company’s resources, thereby contributing to the nation’s economic development.